This invention relates to a data carrier for noncontacting control of persons with nontransferable entitlement to utilize a service.
Compared to data carriers which must be inserted into a control device, noncontacting data carriers interacting with a write-read unit in the radio wave range over a relatively large data transmission distance. Noncontacting data carriers have the advantage of being used hands-free while being fastened to the clothing in the form of a card for example or integrated into a wrist watch. They are therefore preferably used for example with the admission control devices of ski lifts and cable cars generally having a person singling device such as a turnstile which is actuated by the write-read unit or unblocked for a person when the write-read unit receives corresponding data from the data carrier.
In order to prevent nontransferable data carriers from being passed on to other persons, one can provide them with a photo of the user. However, elaborate photos economically only tend to be worthwhile for expensive data carriers with a longer period of validity, for example weekly ski passes in a winter sport area.
Data carriers for lower-value services, e.g. day ski passes, are thus still improperly passed on to other persons. This results in considerable damage for lift and cable car operators.
DE 84 28 610 U1 discloses a bracelet for persons under supervision, such as patients in mental institutions, which can only be opened with a special tool. That is, the data carrier is not destroyed when the bracelet is removed. The bracelet has an integrated magnetic stripe which triggers a signal when the patient passes an electronic barrier at the exit of the institution.
WO 88/09541 A discloses a bracelet with a memory chip and an antenna connected therewith to be used for example for persons who have been sentenced to house arrest. Connected to the memory chip is a photodetector which is driven by a light source via an optical fiber in the bracelet. When the bracelet is opened by pulling one end out of the housing, the light supply to the photodetector is interrupted and the chip thereby deprogrammed.
An object of the invention is to provide a relatively simply constructed noncontacting data carrier with nontransferable personal entitlement, for example for a short duration, for utilizing one or more services, e.g. the passenger transportation facilities of a ski area, which cannot be improperly passed on to other persons.
The above advantage is obtained according to the invention by integrating the noncontacting data carrier into a bracelet such that said data carrier is permanently useless, i.e. destroyed, when the bracelet is opened. The data carrier, which interacts with the write-read unit of the admission control device in the RF range (104-3.109 Hz), becomes inoperative so that the person singling device remains unactuated or blocked. This reliably prevents the nontransferable data carrier from being improperly passed on to other persons.
The data carrier can be rendered useless in different ways. For example, the antenna and/or the microchip can be rendered useless, or the circuit board if there is one connecting the antenna with the microchip. The microchip must be rendered useless in particular if a microchip with an integrated antenna is used.
The antenna must be adjusted exactly to a certain operating frequency. Accordingly, the antenna geometry must not vary. According to the invention, the antenna is therefore preferably disposed in a rigid part of the bracelet, in particular in a part of the bracelet closure.
For the same reasons, the antenna is connected with the chip by a line as short as possible, for example via a circuit board.